Photo-autotrophic Production of Poly(hydroxyalkanoates) in Cyanobacteria

B. Drosg, I. Fritz, F. Gattermayr and L. Silvestrini

Abstract
In the last two decades, poly(hydroxyalkanoates) (PHA) were solely produced using heterotrophic bacteria in aerobic cultivation. With respect to the great potential (500 Mt yr–1) of raw industrial CO2 streams and even greater potential of flue gases, the focus on photo-autotrophic biotechnological processes is increasing steadily. Primarily, PHA-gene transfer from heterotrophic bacteria into algae and plant cells was attempted, with the intention to combine the known biosynthesis pathway with autotrophic cultivation. The natural occurrence of PHA in cyanobacteria is known at least since 1966. However, cyanobacteria were never considered for commercial production because the PHA amount based on cell mass and based on volumetric productivity is generally very low. Therefore, strain improvements were suggested, either by gene amplification or by suppression of biochemical pathways competing for the cell’s acetate pool. In the late 1990s, the success of genetic modification was confirmed experimentally, elevating the cyanobacteria cell’s PHA content. With additional optimization, PHB amounts up to 50 % w/w of biomass dry matter or up to about 2.4 g L–1 bioreactor volume could be produced within 11 days. Considering the land use for agriculture and the competition for plant biomass between food, feed, fuel and energy production, the binding of CO2 in a biotechnological process using photo-autotrophic microorganisms may become a promising option.

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Keywords
CO2 binding, poly(hydroxyalkanoates), cyanobacteria, algae, phototrophic